Close Enough
by Purple-Jasmine
Summary: Another gust of wind whistled briefly in his ears, gentler than the previous one which had whirled about him;but was unexpectedly followed by a sharp intake of breath…a sob?Can Zero and Yuuki ever become friends once again?Slight spoiler-Awakening.Mild AU


**Authors Note: **_ I ACTUALLY POSTED SOMETHING!!!! It's a miracle innit? I succeeded in posting something before summer ends (in 2 days!), I don't have a lot of time seeing as though I need to start my summer work. ;) **Anyway,this fic is slightly AU. So pretend that Zero didn't love Yuuki (but hates Kaname all the same), and Yuuki and Kaname stayed at Cross Academy. **  
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**_Dedicated to: My beta (of course) and Keelan, who asked me to dedicate a piece of writing for him. :)_**

_**Please Read and Review!!! ** _

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_Close Enough_

The sky was painted with a heavy blanket of ominous black velvet that breezy evening, as a crescent moon shined against the luminous backdrop of the overbearing ebony sky.

No stars could be seen gleaming protectively against the waxing source of moonlight, as the crescent tried tirelessly to illuminate a thin concrete path before young man, who walked slowly and barely focused at the extremely early hours of a new day.

A howl of wind briefly tore through the silence which had accompanied the solitary figure, as if sympathizing with the struggling falcate lingering alone atop the serene heavens…its cry encouraging the moon to continue beaming radiantly against the darkness which encompassed the eerily quiet land.

His eyes were becoming heavy from the lack of sleep he'd been receiving; yet he continued to patrol alone, unafraid of the shadows which surrounded his seemingly vulnerable body. He frustratingly attempted to keep his mind blank, forbidding himself to think of anything or anyone whilst he focused on his duty. The frequent clicks of his shoes were the loudest noise to be heard within the peculiar silence that surrounded him; the staccato sound setting a constant rhythm below him.

_Click…click…click._

Another gust of wind whistled briefly in his ears, gentler than the previous one which had whirled about him; but was unexpectedly followed by a sharp intake of breath…a sob?

Redirecting his footsteps in the direction of the sudden sound, his shoes clacking at a faster pace than what they had been before, the man's acute hearing lead him to an area filled with a group of difficulty seen clustered trees. The branches seemed to disappear into nothingness as his eyes traveled upwards momentarily; noticing how the shadowed tops of the foliage blended in effortlessly with the mysteriously empty sky above him.

He proceeded to move stealthily with haste through the thick compaction of tree trunks though, recalling his reason for straying away from his intended patrol in the first place.

'_Her sweet scent…it's getting closer,' _he thought, as he saw a clearing not to far ahead from where he stood. Once more, he began moving through the trees obscuring a clear path…slightly slower in his steps; which allowed him to remain undetected by the young woman.

Small knees were brought close to a heaving chest; as the girls' slender arms wrapped tightly around them, and she kept her head down to hide her face beneath her white skirt. Hearing nothing but her own sobs in her ears, she remained oblivious to her sudden guests' presence.

The girl slowly lifted her head up after crying softly to herself for a short while, only to be met with a suddenly bright shine of light from the pale silver moon which sat protectively above her. A set of large brown eyes appeared swollen along the eyelash line; the white of the pained orbs were tainted an unsightly light pink.

Sniffling, the petite form gave her torso another shake, as a sob wracked itself throughout her lungs and into her throat. She suppressed the urge to cry out loud; and instead, permitted a tear to cascade down her porcelain cheek.

He watched the scene play out before him from within the security of the darkness hiding his still form, as his eyes traced every long wavy lock, and even every glistening tear which trailed along the girls cheek…the sight making him ache from within. He saw her brush the tears harshly away with the moistened sleeves of her thin jacket… and with a final sniff from her red nose, she sat contently against the tree she was leant upon, looking up at the calming crescent moon.

Her face held no expression, though upon hearing the snap of a twig it became alert with a mixture of sadness and fear. However, once seeing and recognizing the familiar stature of the man approaching her, her pounding heart and quivering torso relaxed.

"…." She wanted to say something so bad, yet she was at a lack of voice as he gradually closed the distance between them with each step he took closer...still managing to maintain a short amount of space away from her for the time being. The previous clicks of his shoes were muffled by the short blades of grass beneath him, as the girls soothing voice finally rose amongst the silence.

"Zero?" she mumbled quietly out to him, rapidly using the pads of her fingers to wipe away the few tears which continued to flow out of her emotion filled eyes.

He didn't respond to her initially, as he halted on the other side of the small clearing she had secluded herself within. Instead, Zero remained standing silently, contemplating what he wanted to say to the clearly upset young woman…and though thoughts whipped around rapidly in the hunter's mind, none seemed to make it past his unusually dry lips.

After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, Zero quietly cleared his throat to speak, not daring to look at her, as he asked in a cold, flat tone,

"Why are you crying out here, _vampire_?"

The last word was hissed, undeniably filled with the silver haired man's contempt and loathing of the leeches kind.

Yuuki almost visibly flinched at Kiryuu's hateful tone of voice, as she gave a little sniff once again at hearing the venom interlaced within the boy's use of the term, and slowly felt her eyes well up with another barrage of tears.

'_Does he really hate me that much? How can I go on to live with my Kaname-nii-sama knowing that Zero…despises me?' _The girl asked herself, further depressed by the simple thought, which in return made her sob harder than she had been doing earlier.

Quickly attempting to regain composure and not expose her weakness in front of the judgmental prefect, Yuuki hung her head lower, so much that her chin was nearly propped against her chest.

Zero looked at the fragile figure, his insides boiling with an unwanted and gnawing feeling of guilt for his behavior towards her.

'_Damn_…' he thought, as he stared wordlessly at the crying figure. '_I forgot that she's not as strong as the other vampires…this one is much more…delicate.'_

Slowly approaching the even more hysterical young brunette and taking a seat next to her on the short grass, Zero gritted his teeth lightly, as he reminded himself to maintain his temper, before speaking yet again to the pureblooded vampire.

"Why are you crying…Yuuki?" his voice repeated in a softer tone. Granted, he didn't let much emotion pour into his inquiry, but he at least managed to remove the variable of hate from it.

Yuuki's breath hitched, as she turned to face Zero once more; her overused sleeve again wiping her easily falling tears. Her face was pale, and her nose slightly pink from all the sniffling she had been doing.

"I..." she started, her voice shaking with nerves. Yuuki hadn't actually talked to Zero since the awakening of her pureblood self…hence, the anxiety she felt when being given the chance to once more open up to her long time friend was a bit nerve wracking. However, unwilling to pass up the one chance she may have had to speak with the lilac eyed man as a friend again, Yuuki proceeded to clear her throat softly, before explaining her worries to the boy who once gave her the comfort she needed during her darkest of times.

"I've just been…c-confused." She said quietly; unable to continue maintaining eye contact with the prefect as she averted her gaze elsewhere.

'_Confused? After her awakening, more of her past was to be exposed….right? Why would she remain perplexed after she was able to start remembering her past?__' _the hunter considered, before mentally shrugging his shoulders and tossing Yuuki a somewhat quizzical look.

"Well, I'm a bit lonely….and a bit hurt." She said sadly, attempting again to look into the lavender eyes which once sought her out for solace in his tragedy filled world.

"My life has changed so much and so suddenly. Kaname-nii-sama is great, and I love him; but our relationship…"her voice gently trailed off, as the expression on her face seemed to reflect deep contemplation.

Not particularly interested in having a conversation which involved the topic of Kaname Kuran, it took every ounce of will within Zero's body to not turn away from his once close companion whilst she mulled over what she was trying to say.

He had never cared for the man to begin with…and after awakening Yuuki from her once peaceful slumber; the silver haired guardian couldn't help but despise the pureblood even more.

Nonetheless, Zero also knew he owed at least that much to Yuuki…a willing ear to listen to her concerns, even if they involved her heinous brother; and clenching his fists against his sides, the young man managed to maintain a façade of calmness as Yuuki spoke once more.

"It's just different," she explained sullenly. "But lately he's been away more than he's been home…busy fixing things in the council and such. I barely see him nowadays…and I'm often just walking around alone. The Night Class is too formal to talk with me. And I can't see Yori-chan because now that I'm in the Night Class and she's in the Day Class…we just don't have a common time." She spoke quickly and with a gradually deepening morose tone of voice.

Zero didn't have a chance to interrupt, for Yuuki continued speaking before his lips even parted.

"And it's not like I can tell Kaname-nii-sama _everything_. Like now, how I have been feeling for some time_._ And my real onii-sama, won't talk to me," She said despondently, almost on the verge of tears again.

"It's like he hates me…" she then added as an after thought, her eyes closing for a minute when she took a deep breath to help calm her emotions.

'_Real onii-sama!? Who the hell is she talking about!? Is there another damn pureblood around here?' _Zero thought immediately as he did a double take towards the vampire sitting next to him, only to find her rich, chocolate doe eyes looking hopefully back up at him before he turned his head forward once more…staring blankly at the dark scenery surrounding them.

"My real onii-sama doesn't treat me too differently most of the time. And we've always been there for each other…I think that, maybe, inside his heart somewhere, he knows that even though I have changed…deep down, where it truly matters, I am still….me." She said lightly, and out of his peripheral vision Zero saw Yuuki smile warmly.

'_All I want to do is see her smile…smile from her heart again.' _The prefect recalled saying. '_That's the smile I've been waiting SO long to see.'_ He continued to consider, as he slowly thought back to what the large heartend Kuran girl had just said, and found only one thought crossing his mind…

'_Oh…'_

"Yuuki," he started to say, turning himself so he could face her. "You know you can always count on me. Even if I don't always act so kindly towards you, I know that within this new Yuuki, the girl who I actually considered my true friend is in there." He explained with a plain, but nevertheless gentle, expression on his face.

Before he could make another remark though, he felt Yuuki's warm, slender arms whip around his torso, embracing him tightly against her much tinier figure.

She unabashedly rested her head upon his chest, as he slowly reacted and carefully returned the embrace. His hands lightly rested themselves on her upper back as his chin sat atop her head.

After a few moments he felt the tension in Yuuki's arms subside, as she almost reluctantly drew herself back from his comforting then sat on her knees, flattening out the white uniform skirt she'd worn as she did so.

"So Zero-nii-sama," she said in a voice more akin to that natural happy tone her human self often exhibited when with her brother-like figure.' _After everything, he really doesn't hate me.'_ she thought to herself as she paused in her speaking, allowing a bright smile to plaster itself across her face.

"Am I like your little sister?" she continued on to ask, though mentally commenting that it was by only a single year of age difference.

'_Of course she is…' _Zero thought.

"Close enough," he replied slyly, before leaving the pureblooded girl to return to his duties…a small smirk of his own adorning his expression, as he set off once again into the randiant silver gleam of the moon.


End file.
